Jack Myths
by SJO
Summary: Some Jack stories based on actual myths from other cultures. Includes my previous tale "Destiny Stealer," and the new "Jack and Baba Yaga" based on a Russian witch.
1. Destiny Stealer

Destiny Stealer  
  
A Samurai Jack Fanfic by SJO  
  
(Note: I don't own Samurai Jack, and forgive me if this is politically incorrect. In fact, it's probably horribly wrong, as far as political correctness goes. I tried to do some research, but I couldn't find a lot of information. I really don't want to offend anybody. This is largely based on one of my favorite America legends. I'm doing some of my own twists on that legend, inspired by Mike Oldfield's Incantations, and I'm mixing in just a trace of fact too. I know this is sorta anachronistic, but so have been a lot of things on the show.)  
  
This was the day he had waited for all his life, the day he would claim his manhood and his destiny. They feasted on his own kill, and now his fellow warriors danced around a huge bonfire. He watched with anticipation, and a little fear. Since the day of his birth, he knew what this would lead to. It was a huge, dangerous task. He knew it should have been done long ago. He didn't know how he would do it, but he was sure that now the spirits would show the way.  
  
Soon, everything was quiet. It was time for him to face the fire alone. He stepped forward and looked into the flames. For a while, nothing happened. Then, the clouds of smoke formed into what looked like a man. The flames reflected his red skin.  
  
"So," said the spirit said, "you are ready to reach manhood."  
  
"Yes," the warrior replied. "I have learned many things from my father of how to become a warrior. Now, I am ready to hear from you, great spirits, how to claim my destiny. Show me, how do I defeat the Great Shadow?"  
  
"Yes, we know this is the destiny we put upon you, but before we reveal to you how to claim it, you must prove yourself in a quest."  
  
The warrior didn't like this. He had been in lesser quests all his life, and the Great Shadow needed to be destroyed sooner rather than later. He was crushing the tribe's ancient ways of life and depriving them of their resources. Rumors in the wind whispered that he would soon make them slaves. Yet, if the wise spirits of the earth believe the warrior was not yet ready, he found no reason to argue. "What do you wish for me to do?"  
  
"Look into the flame," the spirit instructed. The warrior did so. In the heart of the flames, he could see an unclear figure of white. "You must go to a land that you do not know, far across the waters, and seek this figure out. He is not a man. He is an evil spirit. He has deceived many saying that he has the power to destroy the Great Shadow, but be warned. If he succeeds, the world will be ruled by an evil that is ten times darker than the Great Shadow."  
  
As the warrior looked closer into the flame, he could see the figure more clearly. It was a pale man carrying a sword. He could almost see him striking at him with a sword. "He does look evil. How do I defeat this evil spirit?"  
  
"This will help you." The spirit handed the warrior a cloud of smoke. As it blew away in the warrior's hands, it turned into a tomahawk. "It has the power to destroy this evil spirit and leave the path open for you to take on the Great Shadow. Do not forget all that you have learned."  
  
The spirit of the vision began to fade, and as he did the warrior held up his tomahawk to the sky. "Yes. My heart is pure! My quest is noble! And I have been trained well in the ways of the warrior all of my life! This destiny stealer will not be able to defeat me."  
  
  
  
Several weeks later, Jack was celebrating in a village far away. He had just helped them become free from their most dangerous enemies. He wanted to move on, but they begged him to stay for a feast held in his honor. It had been a long time since he had a decent meal, so he accepted. It turned out quite wild, the whole city celebrating in the streets. Jack sat next to the mayor of the city and enjoyed the festival and the food. Suddenly, a shrill voice cut through the noise.  
  
"Samurai Jack!"  
  
Everyone went silent, giving the festival an eerie feel. "Who speaks?" Jack called out. No one made any kind of answer. "I am listening. Speak again!"  
  
"Beware little light!" the voice called back.  
  
Jack wasn't sure if he heard right. He turned to the mayor. "Do you know who this is?"  
  
"I believe so. He claims to be a soothsayer."  
  
"Bring him before me, please. I want to see him."  
  
Officials in the crowd pushed the man up to Jack. He was a middle-aged man with worn out clothes, and he had a distant look of terror in his eyes.  
  
"Speak to me again," Jack implored him.  
  
"Beware little light," the soothsayer repeated.  
  
"What little light? Why should I fear it?"  
  
"I can only say what I am permitted to say. Beware little light."  
  
"Thank you. I will try." The man disappeared back into the crowd, and the festival hesitantly resumed. Jack turned to the mayor again. "Can this man be trusted?"  
  
"It is hard to say. He has predicted many attacks against out city, but he is not always right. He is not usually this mysterious. We think he has an informant. Don't worry about it so much, Jack. Let us celebrate now."  
  
"For tomorrow, I shall die," Jack said quietly. He left early.  
  
Jack couldn't understand. Normally, light was his best friend. It kept him warm at night and guided his way. Now he was lost in a dark forest, concerned of what the warning could mean. Could a small spark in the night set a fire to the forest? Would he see a small light in the distance, consider it harmless, and wake with a bounty hunter at his throat? Jack almost dismissed these thoughts. He was not that stupid. But then he thought about great leaders whose pride caused them to let their guard down at such prophetic warnings. What did this prophet mean?  
  
There were little lights in the sky--the stars. They were harmless. But then Jack spotted some streak across the sky. One could fall right on top of him. He looked up to the sky with uncertainty.  
  
A tiny light flashed in front of him, breaking him out of his stargaze. A little beetle was flying around his face, blinking a light in front of his eyes. He caught the firefly and looked it over. It had been a long time since he last saw fireflies. He assumed it was harmless and let it go. Several fireflies twinkled before him.  
  
Then he saw a tiny light at his feet coming from under the dirt. Jack looked down at the blinking light, his hand on the sword. A little rodent's head popped out. It looked like that creature he first saw in the desert with Ikra, but it had what appeared to be a third eye in the middle of his forehead that glowed. The rodent dug out of the ground and rubbed its neck around Jack's ankle, purring. Jack knelt down to investigate further. The rodent blinked its huge, non-glowing eyes and smiled. As it held up its head, Jack saw it had something tied around his neck. The rodent seemed to be offering it to him. Jack took it off. There was a tiny box that grew into a rectangular pad in his hand. Jack examined it and understood. "Jill!"  
  
Jill was his little friend whom Aku caused to be lost from her village. Jack helped her find it again. Unfortunately, Aku's attack killed Jill's father, and she wanted Jack to stay as her new father. Jack knew he could not, but he agreed with Jill's mother to write letters to her on occasion. This must be the first letter from her. Nice, inconspicuous way of sending it, too. Jack rushed to a clearing to read the letter in the moonlight. The rodent's glowing eye helped also.  
  
Dear Jack,  
  
Hi! How are you? Guess what? I had a birthday party the other day! Now, I'm five! I got a lot of books, and a pretty dolly! I'm gonna be starting school soon. I can't wait! Maybe then I'll be able to write you letters instead of Mommy. I'm already starting to read a little. I miss Daddy. Mom said the Monster got him, but she says I'll see him again one day. I hope the Monster doesn't get you. I don't think he will. Hey, I got an uncle who has a big house called a mansion. He's a principal at a big school called college. He wants to meet you sometime. He told me to tell you that if you ever want a place to stop for a while, he'll be glad to have you. And his house is really neat, because it's so big. We can play hide-and-seek there. Well, I gotta go. It's my bedtime.  
  
Love,  
  
Jill  
  
Jack was glad to hear from his friend again. So, she's going to school now? He thought that maybe he should try to teach her some Japanese.  
  
Then Jack heard a sound. Jack looked up to see he was being watched. The rodent's glowing eye illuminated the stranger. He was a warrior with red skin spying on Jack from a tree. He had wild, black hair flowing down his shoulders, and a few smudges of war paint accented his eyes. He wore animal skins only from the waist down. In his right hand was a crude weapon, made from a rock and a stick. He looked about as old as Jack, maybe a little younger. As Jack made eye contact with him, the stranger glared. With a high-pitched, almost yodeling war cry, he leapt at Jack  
  
Jack quickly dodged and drew his sword. He was certain at first that this was another bounty hunter out to collect two googolplexes on his hide. Yet, somehow, when he looked in the warrior's eyes, he hesitated. Jack couldn't explain it, but he just knew this wasn't his enemy. He used his sword to try to force the warrior's crude weapon out of his hand, but the warrior wouldn't let go.  
  
"Who are you?" Jack asked as they tussled.  
  
"You know who I am. I am the one you seek to destroy." His voice was also smooth and young, but was filled with anger.  
  
Surely not, Jack thought. "You are not Aku!"  
  
"Speak no more! I will not have you clouding my mind, as you have so many others!"  
  
Jack continued to attempt to dodge the warrior's attacks, but once the weapon struck his side. It created quite a scrape. "Why do you fight me? Do you just want the reward, like everyone else?"  
  
"There is more riding on this than money."  
  
The warrior struck his weapon off a rock and created a few sparks. The sparks hit a few sticks, and made a torch. Jack backed off. The little light! He knew that in the end it would be fire. What did this maniac intend to do? Would he set the whole forest on fire?  
  
"Does a little fire scare you, spirit?" the warrior sneered.  
  
"I was warned earlier. 'Beware little light.'"  
  
"You have been right to heed this warning. I am Little Light."  
  
Jack looked up, showing he didn't understand.  
  
"Yes. Little Light is my name. On the night of my birth, several fireflies flew above my bed. The shaman said it was a sign from the spirits that I would be a light in the face of darkness, that I would be destined to defeat the Great Shadow. But now you seek to take this destiny away from me. I will not have this, you thief, you evil spirit, you destiny stealer!"  
  
So, that was it. This warrior just didn't want Jack to steal his thunder. Knowing this, Jack dodged and blocked Little Light's attacks, but he refused to fight back. He kept trying to think, where had he heard of this kind of warrior before? He remembered as they got out of the forest and into a bare meadow. Jack calmly stepped back, sheathed his sword, sat down "Indian-style," put his palms together as if in prayer, and gently closed his eyes.  
  
Little Light looked at him in disbelief. "Are you a coward, ghost? Stand up and fight me!" Little Light threw his makeshift torch in front of Jack.  
  
Jack, without opening his eyes, replied, "If all you seek is to destroy me, I will not stop you."  
  
Little Light scoffed. "I know a trap when I see one."  
  
Jack opened his eyes and looked sternly at the warrior. He took his sword and tossed it aside. "Do you trust me now? I give you my word. I will not raise a hand against you."  
  
Little Light still didn't look sure, but he came toward the samurai, his tomahawk raised high above his head. Before he could strike, Jack looked up. "But first, I must say that I am ashamed at what has happened to you and your people."  
  
Little Light's eyes flashed in anger. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY PEOPLE? We are great warriors, brave, strong, and true! No man dares oppose us!"  
  
"I do not deny this. I question not what has happened to your skills as warriors, but your hearts."  
  
"What do you know about us?"  
  
"Very little, I confess. You are the first one I have ever seen. But when I was young, a tale reached my ears of a warrior like you, a man name Hiawatha. He was the leader of a tribe of warriors who called themselves the Iroquois. They were, undoubtedly, great warriors, but they were cruel and ruthless. They always fought with other tribes. Their fighting was out of control, and their hearts were ripe for Aku. But when Hiawatha became chief, he did not want his three daughters to live in the midst of war. He came to the Iroquois' enemies and made peace. They formed a strong league. Now, they fought together for good, to protect their children. But the Iroquois League did not come without a terrible price. Hiawatha paid with the lives of his three daughters."  
  
"Do you further insult me by telling me the story I have heard from birth? Hiawatha is my ancestor! I know what happened to him!"  
  
Jack was silent for a while. He was trying to remember the story for himself. The tale he heard was that an evil chief had opposed Hiawatha's decision. So, he hatched an evil plan. He first pretended to discuss the decision peacefully with Hiawatha, but when the evil chief left, Hiawatha found his eldest daughter dead, causes unknown. The evil chief came a second time and talked with Hiawatha. Once again, when the evil chief left, Hiawatha found his middle daughter dead, causes unknown. The evil chief promised to come again, but he did not.  
  
Jack often imagined this awful part of the story. As Hiawatha waited, his youngest daughter was bathing in the river. That afternoon, a beautiful bird flew above the village. Its feathers were every brilliant color one can imagine, and its song was hypnotizing. This mysterious bird captivated everyone in the village. Suddenly, an arrow flew out of nowhere. Maybe the first one missed. It put everyone on edge, wondering who would have the heart to shoot such a beauty. Another arrow flew, once again missing the bird. Now, the entire village was concerned. Finally, an arrow shot the bird right in the heart. It fell out of the sky and right toward the river. All the villagers ran toward where the bird was falling. Jack never knew why. Perhaps they wanted to see it one last time, or maybe they wanted to confront the cold-hearted hunter. At any rate, the daughter was done with her bathing and was heading back home. Maybe she saw the villagers running toward her, and she tried to run away but tripped over a root. Maybe Hiawatha opened the door of his wigwam (or whatever he lived in) to see what was happening and cried in desperation for the people to stop. It was too late. The villagers trampled the youngest daughter to death. Neither the bird nor the hunter were ever found.  
  
The story went on to say that Hiawatha mourned his daughters' deaths for several days. He came out to the river to grieve one afternoon. Four birds saw his pain and lifted the river by its four corners. Hiawatha gathered shells from the riverbed and made them into beads. He made three strings of these beads, in memory of his daughters.  
  
Little Light was obviously getting restless. "Why do you bring up this story, spirit? What is the point?"  
  
Jack stared at him, hoping he would understand. "The point is Hiawatha did not lose heart, even in the face of adversity. He made sure that the Iroquois League continued, and it became stronger. They continued for years of harmony, pushing the Great Shadow's hate away. Then, the Great Shadow tore them asunder."  
  
"What is that to you?" Little Light cried in fury. "Yes, the Great Shadow broke the league apart centuries ago! Yes, the Great Shadow worked through the hearts of greedy men to drive us far from our lands to a wasted desert! Yes, he continues to make us miserable; he will probably make us his slaves one day! But what is that to you? You claim you will destroy him and bring peace to the world, but you will make the world ten times more evil than it was before!"  
  
Jack could not stand it anymore. He leapt to his feet and looked Little Light straight in the eye. "Why? Just because I seek to destroy him as much as you do? This is not right! Do you not see? If I were in your place, if I met a warrior who was also chosen to defeat Aku or the Great Shadow or whatever it is, I would have fought with him! We would start the League anew! I have heard proverbs all my life. 'Two are better than one, because if they fall one will lift the other up, but woe to him who falls alone.' 'In unity, there is strength.' 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Yet, I look at what you have done tonight, and I see all of this betrayed! For you wish to destroy me, only because we have the same goal! You come to me with hate in your heart and fight me for the sake of fighting, like the Iroquois before Hiawatha's leadership! What has Aku done to you?"  
  
Jack never took his eyes off the warrior, but now his vision was blurred with tears. Little Light looked as though Jack's words were sinking in. Jack took a deep breath and sat down again. "If you wish to destroy me, do it. Slaughter me like the evil chief slaughtered Hiawatha's daughters. But if you are truly the descendent of Hiawatha, I would be honored to join your league."  
  
Little Light looked at Jack, pondering what he had told him. He looked confused, but then his face filled with determination. He gave out another piercing war cry and lifted the tomahawk above his head. Jack cried out in disbelief and fear. He shut his tightly a felt a sharp whoosh in the air.  
  
But he did not feel a blade. He opened his eyes to see the tomahawk just to his right side. Little Light was breathing heavily while grabbing the handle. Jack thought he saw a couple of tears fall from the warrior's eyes onto the ground. Then, Little Light composed himself and extended his hand to Jack. He said something in his own language, but somehow Jack understood in his heart what it was.  
  
"Stand, brother."  
  
Jack took Little Light's hand, and he helped Jack up. They shook hands. This was a new gesture to Jack, but he knew this was the way to seal the League with the warrior. "I knew you would choose the right way," Jack said quietly.  
  
"Yes, your words were true, but there is something I do not understand. I was told through a vision about you. The spirits told me you were evil, that your only purpose was to steal my destiny. The spirits do not lie."  
  
Jack did not know how to answer, but suddenly a cold wind came through, nearly putting out Little Light's torch. Jack knew what was going on, but Little Light was filled with fear. The shadows gathered and turned into--  
  
"AKU!"  
  
"This is the Great Shadow?"  
  
"Yes," Aku said. "What is the matter, little man? Are you surprised to see me?" Suddenly, Aku disappeared and a large cloud of smoke billowed from what was left of Little Light's fire and turned into the form of a man. "Or me?" the man said darkly.  
  
Little Light could not believe it. "It's the spirit I saw in my vision!"  
  
"Yes," Aku said through the false spirit. "Your people have been a thorn in my side for 'many moons.'" Aku chuckled as though the stereotypical phrase amused him. Little Light tried to come at the demon, but Jack held him back. "Ever since that ridiculous league your forefathers put together, I have sought to break you, to tear apart your tribes. I nearly succeeded so many years ago. Did you not know? Let me show you. Behold!" The spirit held out his arms and transformed into a lovely bird. Its body was red, but it's tail feathers were every color of the rainbow. It sang a haunting song as it soared above their heads. Little Light was so transfixed, it seemed everything in the world disappeared except for that bird. Jack nearly fell into such a trance, but then he remembered what the bird really was.  
  
"You were the bird?" Jack cried.  
  
"More than that," Aku's voice said out of nowhere. "I was the evil chief. I was the archer." Jack could see their silhouettes beyond the bird as Aku spoke of them. "It was the greatest magical feat of my entire life. It led an entire village astray, but the leader was stronger than I had imagined. I tried to kill Hiawatha, but every time he evaded death somehow. I led him to the river as the bird and was certain he drowned, but he came back and roused and army. I transformed into a bear and fought with him until I was sure he was dead, but even then he returned to fight me. Then, some strange presence drove me away. Something was with Hiawatha, making him stronger. But no such power will save you now!"  
  
"Wrong! Now we are working together, and we will stop you!" Jack picked up his sword again, and they went after Aku. Little Light kept throwing his tomahawk, but it continued to miss. In fact, it kept trying to hit Jack.  
  
Aku smirked at Little Light's efforts. "Having problems with your weapon? You forget, I gave it to you. It was meant to destroy the samurai that you believed is an evil spirit."  
  
"You are right!" Little Light realized. "It will not work against a real spirit. Never mind, I have other weapons." Little Light picked up his torch and flung it at Aku, but it did no good. Aku struck at the warrior and injured him greatly.  
  
Jack came to his aid. "What can I do?" Little Light said weakly. "I have nothing to fight the Great Shadow now. He will overtake me."  
  
Jack put his hand on Little Light's shoulder. "Trust your people. Remember your ancestors. They will not let you down. My people do not forsake me. If your heart is pure, they will come through for you."  
  
Little Light looked as though he did not completely understand, but he looked up at the sky. He started to sing something in his language. This time, Jack did not try to understand. He knew this was between Little Light and the spirits. Aku was sneering at their piety and looked as though he was preparing to attack fast and hard.  
  
Suddenly, a screech tore through the night air. A hawk swooped down before the two warriors and dropped something from its beak. Little Light quickly caught it. They were beads--four strings of them. The warriors' eyes grew wide. These must be the fabled strings of beads that Hiawatha made, but what was the fourth?  
  
Aku looked at them in shock as well. "NO! IT CANNOT BE! THAT PRESENCE! IT HAS RETURNED, AND IT IS STRONGER!"  
  
Jack could feel it too. He thought he could even hear singing all around him. He and Little Light charged together and attacked Aku at the same instant. The demon screamed and vanished.  
  
"We destroyed him?" Little Light asked.  
  
"No. He merely retreated. You shall probably see him again soon, but it is unusual that he left without a threat."  
  
Jack looked up to see that the sun just now rising over the horizon. Jack and Little Light walked together in silence as morning was breaking. Finally, Little Light said, "You never told me your name."  
  
"Jack," the samurai answered.  
  
Little Light looked straight at him. "From now on among my people, you shall be called White Fire. Your righteousness and truth will blaze against the Great Shadow and cause him to vanish away."  
  
"I cannot come with you to your people. I am on a quest of my own."  
  
"I was not expecting you to, but I must return to my people. You have shown me that I have much to learn still. I will try to better my skills not as a skillful warrior but as a trustworthy leader. When the time is right, I shall have a true vision, and the spirits will show me how they wish for me to destroy the Great Shadow. And now, White Fire, take this." Little Light handed him a string of beads. "Always keep this with you on your journey, and remember we are brothers now. If you keep in your heart that we are a league, our destinies shall never be stolen."  
  
Jack bowed to Little Light, and the warrior also solemnly nodded. Thus, they parted company. Jack looked at the string of beads in his hand and smiled. "I will remember." He put it into his robe. As he looked up into the sky, he thought he could see through the strange formation of the clouds the face of an Iroquois chief looking down on him.  
  
THE END 


	2. Jack and Baba Yaga

Jack and Baba Yaga  
  
A Samurai Jack Fanfic by SJO  
  
(Note: I don't own Samurai Jack or all these myths, primarily Russian, that I allude to. This story is probably better rated PG-13 for Russian fairy tale violence and references to cannibalism and suicide. But if you can take "Hansel and Grettle" and "Hamlet," you probably will have no problem with this. )  
  
***************  
  
"There is one whom Aku fears. They say she is more powerful. On the day as he passed through her forest, with a snap of her fingers and a click of her heels, he became what she wanted him to be. He could not cast a spell against her. Now he will not go near her. She lives three times nine verts away in the heart of the Woods of Night. She is called the Grandmother Witch, or as we say in our tongue, Baba Yaga."  
  
It was a dark and stormy night.  
  
The young Oriental prince wandered helplessly through the woods. He had to find this witch. If she were a good witch, she would help him on his quest. If she were an evil witch, he had enough skill to get away.  
  
A low, deep howl echoed through the woods that the prince knew belonged to a wolf. Before he knew it, an entire pack was gaining on him. No bother. The prince tossed his hatchet, and the leader of the pack fell dead. The rest of the pack scattered. The prince quickly took his hatchet and cleaned it.  
  
The prince knew he was getting more and more lost, but he felt that it meant he was getting closer to the witch's hut.  
  
"Comrade!" a voice screamed. The prince turned to see the son of his Russian master, a young man about the prince's age. He was holding a lamp, and he ran toward the Japanese prince in anxiousness. "I was looking everywhere for you."  
  
"Go home, Vitaly!" the prince yelled back as he ran the other direction.  
  
"Where are you going? You're not after--"  
  
"Yes I am! She can tell me my future!"  
  
"Who told you of her?"  
  
"Dimitri."  
  
"Don't do it comrade, it's a trap! No one who seeks her is ever found again!"  
  
Then the prince stopped running. He had come upon a hut standing on gigantic hen's legs and made entirely of bones. It was the most horrible thing the Oriental prince had ever seen. The house was moving, turning in every direction, but then the front faced him. There were human skulls along the porch, and suddenly their eye sockets lit with a mysterious light. The front opened, and an old voice like a creaking door cackled, "Come in, Tzarevich of the East!"  
  
The Oriental prince stood as still as a post buried in the ground as he heard his friend call, "Comrade! Comrade . . . "  
  
" . . . Comrade? Comrade? Are you still with me?"  
  
The carpenter's voice broke Jack out of his flashback. "I am sorry. Do you speak of Baba Yaga?"  
  
"I told you from the beginning that I do speak of her. Do you not use your ears?"  
  
"It took me by surprise is all. I knew of the Grandmother Witch from my day. How could she live this long?"  
  
"She is immortal."  
  
"But she is just a woman."  
  
"She must be immortal. If not, Aku would have destroyed her long ago. No one understands how she is immortal or where her power comes from, but it is so. Are you sure that you wish to seek her?"  
  
Jack thought once again of that horrible night, but then he took in this new information. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I do seek her."  
  
"Then take these." The Russian carpenter handed him a ball made out of gold and a strip of paper. "This ball is magical. At your bidding, it will show you the way to wherever you wish. And when you find her hut, say this incantation. The hut will turn to face you, and the witch will come out and converse with you."  
  
Jack nodded in thanks and stood to go on his way, but then he stopped. "Tell me this. Is Baba Yaga good or evil?"  
  
The carpenter was silent for a long time, but then he answered in a low whisper, "No man can say."  
  
****************  
  
Jack found the wood easily using his memory as his map. The sun was low in the sky. He pulled the golden ball out of his robe. He knew he could say anything to make the ball work, but it would probably be more agreeable if he said an incantation. So he held it before him and said, "Golden ball, give me you light. Reveal the path through the Woods of Night."  
  
The ball began to brilliantly glow, but it did not start flying before him like a fairy or a shooting star. This must have been an antique magic item. He knelt down and placed the ball at his feet. Straightaway, it began to roll, and he followed. The ball rolled along as though it knew where it was going. The forest was dark, though not as dark as Jack had anticipated. But then a man on horseback galloped by. He wore a black cloak with a hood over his face, and his horse was black as coal. Jack called out to him, but the horseman did not even notice that he was there. As the horseman passed, night came.  
  
Whether he walked a long way or a short way the telling was easy, but the journey was hard. The forest was so dark Jack could hardly see, but the ball continued to glow brightly so he knew where to go.  
  
As he entered the depths of the forest, he heard a low, deep howl. The wolves were still here. The lead wolf approached the samurai snarling and growling. The pack followed closely behind. Jack drew his sword and shook it before the leader threateningly. The lead wolf only growled and snapped. Jack didn't feel like killing any wolves this time, so he ran as fast as he could. A chase seemed to be exactly what the wolves wanted, for they followed close behind. He finally felt that there was no way that he could escape them without using his weapon. So he turned, drew his sword, leapt with a war cry, and brought the blade upon the lead wolf neck.  
  
"Clang!" The wolf's neck was like iron, and the sword could not break it. Jack struck at another wolf, but the same thing happened.  
  
"How can this be?"  
  
The lead wolf looked like he was concentrating, as though he was about to do something very difficult. Then he started to growl again, but Jack didn't hear growls. He heard words.  
  
"Do not hurt us."  
  
Jack dropped his sword and knelt before the wolf, but still kept at a safe distance. "Noble wolf, why do you seek my life?"  
  
"Net," another wolf replied in a growling, feminine voice. "We do not want to hurt you. We only mean to frighten you away."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Hear us," another wolf replied. "We were children."  
  
"We were Tzarevichs."  
  
"We were Tzarevnas."  
  
"We were lost in the woods."  
  
"We were dared to find her."  
  
"We sought her powers."  
  
"Baba Yaga took us in."  
  
"She put us under a deep sleep."  
  
"When we woke, we were wolves."  
  
"There is no telling what she has done with our flesh."  
  
"But we fear the worst."  
  
"She knows you are coming."  
  
"She has the same fate planned for you!"  
  
"Run!" the lead wolf cried. "If you value your life, get out of this forest now!"  
  
"No!" Jack replied. "I must see her. I will break the charm among you, and make you human again."  
  
"You can not," the feminine wolf answered. "Others have tried."  
  
"It will be different, trust me." Jack caught a glimpse of the glowing ball, found his way around the wolves and continued on.  
  
"Idealistic fool!" the leader called. "You have escaped us! Pray that you will escape her!"  
  
But Jack was not worried. Finally, the ball stopped before the hut's foundation. Jack once again beheld the horrible hut made of bones. He tried to come around and knock on that awful gate with feet bones as its hinges and jawbones with sharp teeth as locks. But then he remembered the incantation. He pulled it out and read out loud. "Little house, little house, stand the way thy mother placed thee. Turn thy back to the forest and thy face to me!"  
  
The house faced Jack and stood still. The gate opened, and its host stepped out. She had wild white hair, bony legs and arms, and a scowl on her wrinkled face. Her claw-like hand grasped a wooden cane that resembled a snake. Her clothes were covered with splotches of deep red, and Jack dared not ask what they were. Her eyes were wide and piercing, and one had a film over it. Jack was disturbed to say the least, but in his mind he silently repeated to himself, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."  
  
"Foo! Foo!" the witch cried while sniffing the air. "Until now I have neither seen with my eyes nor smelled with my nose the spirit of any Russian; but tonight it is a Russian who comes to my house! Who is this who comes to me?" Then she spied Jack standing in the pathway to her house. "Ah, I remember you." She hobbled over him and stared into his eyes. Jack's blood ran cold, but he dared not utter a word. "You came to my house three times nine decades ago, Tzarevich of the East."  
  
"Grandmother, forgive me for correcting you. I am not Russian. My father is an emperor, not a tzar. And surely it has been longer than 27 decades."  
  
"Well, it comes to the same thing, does it not?"  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"Tell me this. Why did you not visit me those many years ago?"  
  
"I had other obligations to fulfill."  
  
Baba Yaga laughed creakily. "You were afraid."  
  
"I was not. My master sent his son after me to remind me of my duties."  
  
"Baba Yaga knows the truth. She knows you were afraid."  
  
Jack decided to change the subject. "I come to ask you--"  
  
"Ah, Baba Yaga knows this too. You seek the secrets of time that you may return home to your tzardom."  
  
"Yes! Do you know these secrets?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"Will you tell them to me?"  
  
"I will."  
  
"What is your price? I shall pay anything short of my life or my flesh. I warn you, if you even try to take these from me, I will--" As Jack spoke, he drew his sword to show her he meant business, but she waved her hand and whispered a Russian word. The sword instantly turned into a cobra in Jack's hand! It looked as though it was about to strike. Jack couldn't help but gasp and threw the snake down on the ground. Instantly, it turned back into his sword.  
  
Baba Yaga smiled maliciously. "Do not concern yourself with payment, Tzarevich. Baba Yaga always gets what Baba Yaga wants." She cackled once again. Jack reached for his sword, but the witch stopped him. She gestured her hand in a circle around his face. "Now, sleep. Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."  
  
Jack remembered what the wolf-children told him. "No."  
  
"Yes. The morning is wiser than the evening, Tzarevich."  
  
Jack had often heard that phrase while in Russia, but he wasn't sure what it meant. He tried to question her, but Baba Yaga continued to wave her hand and whisper eerily, "Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."  
  
"I . . . will . . . not . . . let . . . you . . ." But the more Jack tried to resist, the more he fell under the charm. His legs gave way, and before he even realized it he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.  
  
He heard it approaching before he saw it. He heard its paws stalking on the ground and its heavy breathing. He could feel and smell its breath as it came nearer. It smelled repulsive, like death. Jack looked to see a wolf that seemed fiercer than any he had encountered. It had black fur and glowing, piercing eyes. Jack could tell from the look in the wolf's eyes that he was meaning to kill. The wolf was nearly upon him. Jack quickly reached for his sword.  
  
It was not there.  
  
Jack stood and looked all about him. His sword was gone.  
  
The wolf gave a loud snarl and leapt out at Jack. Jack couldn't think of anything to do but run. Yet no matter how fast he went, the wolf was snapping at his heels. Jack climbed a tree to evade the wolf, but he hungrily waited for Jack to come down. Jack leapt off the tree and happened to land on a hose's back. A horseman not unlike the one Jack saw the previous evening drove the horse. This horseman was dressed all in white, and his horse was as white as milk. The wolf still chased the horse, but the wolf could not approach it.  
  
Jack saw the pack of wolves he had met in the wood. He was sure this new wolf would seek their assistance in the hunt, but actually they seemed to flee when this new wolf came near. Was it not of this pack?  
  
The horseman was approaching a cliff. Jack had to get off and face this wolf somehow. "Excuse me, comrade," Jack asked gently. "Do you have a weapon to lend me? I give you my word, I will return it swiftly to--"  
  
Jack cut himself off in astonishment when the rider turned toward him. He had no face! His hood hung upon nothing! Jack gave a small cry. It was surely a ghost. The rider pointed down into the dark valley. A ray of light appeared and spotted a sword with a black hilt with gold diamonds, which rested on a flat rock. Jack knew it was his own sword. How did it get there?  
  
"Thank you. Dosvidanya," Jack managed to say. He leapt off the horse and fell down into the valley.  
  
The wolf still managed to find him, and he was creeping in hungrily. "It's just you and me now," Jack whispered. But then he remembered that this could not be.  
  
He thought back to his Russian master. Not only did he teach the samurai- in-training how to throw an axe; he also tried to teach the Japanese prince, Vitaly, and his friends about cooperation. He constantly told the boys, "A wolf never hunts alone. He always fights with his brothers in the pack." This wolf was alone, and the pack rejected him. How could he be a wolf? As the wolf came closer and Jack saw him more clearly in the light, Jack recognized him.  
  
"Come and get me, Aku!"  
  
The wolf tossed his head back and roared. Then he changed into the form Jack knew the best.  
  
"Curse you, Samurai!" he cried. "If you had not figured it out, it would have been so much easier to destroy you."  
  
"So, what I heard was not true. You are in a conspiracy with her!"  
  
"What? Who?"  
  
Jack was surprised by Aku's confused response. "Did you not put the curse on those children?"  
  
"Children?"  
  
So maybe he was trying to confuse Jack. No bother. Destroy the source, and destroy the charm. "Never mind." Jack picked up his sword, but he quickly dropped it. He caught his reflection in the blade, and he saw flaming eyebrows and fangs. "What have you done to my sword?"  
  
"Sword?" Aku had no idea what the samurai was talking about, but he thought out loud to himself. "Perhaps I am becoming more clever. Evil is becoming a secondary nature at last, so that my right hand does not know what left hand is doing." He chuckled fiendishly to himself. "But what cunning thing was it that I had done? Let me see." He picked up the sword, but then dropped it. "Aiaa!" Instead of his own reflection, he saw the cold, determined eyes of the samurai. He stuttered for a few moments then looked at the samurai in disbelief. "Who did you hire?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You are trying to trick me, and you hired a witch or a wizard to do this?"  
  
"It was not you?"  
  
"No! I didn't go near it!"  
  
"Then it must have been her." Jack picked up the sword and glared at his Aku reflection.  
  
"Who do you mean?"  
  
Jack continued to glare and replied in a low whisper, "Baba Yaga." It may have been his imagination, but the sword seemed to glow when he spoke the name.  
  
"WHAT?" Aku hastily tried to pull the sword away. "You saw Baba Yaga?"  
  
It was not Jack's imagination this time. The sword definitely glowed brightly, and a lightning bolt shot from the blade and froze Jack and Aku's hands on the blade. Aku frowned at Jack. "You have really done it now, samurai."  
  
A loud chuckle was heard all around them, and it grew into maniacal laughter, but no one could be seen. Aku looked around for the voice, and an expression crossed his face that was evidently fear. "I know that voice," Jack said softly.  
  
"Yes," Aku whispered. "We are in trouble."  
  
"You mean 'you' are in trouble," Jack answered.  
  
"Oh no, I mean 'we' are in trouble."  
  
The unseen voice echoed throughout the valley a loud incantation. "Behold the mysteries of the night: White becomes black and black becomes white!"  
  
The bolts of lightning surrounded the two of them. Jack felt as though an invisible hand grabbed his hair and was stretching him like a candy he had seen in this world called taffy. Then he felt like all the bones were disappearing from his body. He couldn't help but cry out in pain.  
  
Meanwhile, Aku felt just the opposite. He felt as though someone was pushing him down, squashing him like a bug. "Cease this magic! Cease I say!" After that last sentence, he clamped his hand over his mouth. "That's not my voice," he thought. The magic would not stop.  
  
The sword flew high above the two of them and started to spin around like a helicopter blade. It created a large windstorm that caught the two of them. Jack was bewildered by the storm. He could not tell what was happening. Aku was not sure what it would accomplish, but he knew it was at the hand of Baba Yaga, and he did not like it.  
  
When the wind died down, only one being remained. Jack looked in fear at his hands that were as black as shadows. Aku saw he was wearing a black gi, and he knew the witch had transformed him into the one form he refused to ever take--a samurai.  
  
The being fell to his knees and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It's voice sounded like Jack and Aku's voices combined.  
  
Then Jack opened his eyes. It was all a dream. He saw all about him still tongues of fire. Baba Yaga somehow transported him to Aku's lair through the dream. Did Aku keep a time portal here?  
  
Jack got up and searched everywhere in the castle when he spotted Aku out of the corner of his eye. Might as well finish the job. Jack charged towards the demon with a war cry. Aku did the same. Jack reached for his sword, but again it was gone. Jack quickly looked up to see what the demon was up to only to see that Aku was reaching for a sword that wasn't there. Jack moved in closer, and so did Aku.  
  
"Could it be?" Jack asked, but it was not his voice that spoke. It was Aku's. Jack felt his face. Something sharp scratched his finger when he felt his lip, and his finger was almost burned when he touched his forehead. And as Aku was imitating his actions, Jack understood that he was seeing a reflection.  
  
"No! No!" But it was true. His dream was not a dream at all. This was much worse than becoming a chicken. "I have become my enemy. But what has happened to--" Even as he spoke, he saw the wall open and a picture form. "No!" he cried. The wall closed back up. Whatever that was, it came about by black magic. He could not use it.  
  
But he did see the picture long enough to see that his flesh was still in tact. It was stretched out on the ground in the Woods of Night, still asleep, but it was about to wake.  
  
Aku awoke to the sound of the clip-clop of horseshoes. He stood to see a horseman in a red hood riding upon a blood red horse. As he rode, sunlight filled the forest, as much as it could in the Woods of Night.  
  
"You there!" Aku called. "What do you mean by riding through my throne room on your horse?"  
  
But the rider would not turn back or stop.  
  
"I speak to you! Answer me or face the consequences!"  
  
But the horseman did not even recognize that somewhere was there.  
  
"Insolence!" Aku stretched forth his hand, but nothing happened. Then he brought his hand closer to inspect. "Flesh. Mortal flesh." He bit his finger. It hurt. It bled. "That witch turned me into--it cannot be!"  
  
He spotted a small puddle of water and looked at his reflection. He saw the samurai looking back. He screamed and splashed at the reflection. "Samurai, what have you done? How dare you see her?"  
  
He struggled with what to do. He had the samurai's sword. He thought about striking himself with the blade, ending his samurai problem forever-- but then he knew that was exactly what she wanted him to do. The only thing he could think of to do was to see the witch who cast this spell.  
  
He angrily stomped toward the hut and yelled the incantation. Baba Yaga came out smiling mischievously. "Kastchey! How long has it been since our paths crossed?"  
  
Anger burned in Aku's soul. She always called him the name of an infamous wizard; a term as far as he was concerned was a mark of inferiority. "When will you realize that I am more than a Kastchey? I am your Tzar!"  
  
"Tzar?" Baba Yaga laughed. "You're little more than a poor Cossack now."  
  
"What do you want with me, Baba Yaga?"  
  
"Baba Yaga wants what she has always told you she wanted."  
  
His eyes grew wide when he heard that, and he remembered all her veiled threats against him. "You seek to devour me?"  
  
"Baba Yaga seeks to enslave you. Now come in."  
  
The first thing Baba Yaga did was put a uniform on top of the samurai robe. Aku found it very hot and irritating, sensations with which he was not familiar before. "This is a serf's clothing, showing that from now on you belong to me."  
  
Aku glared at her. Somehow, she was going to pay.  
  
"Listen well, and do what I bid you. I am going out for the day. When I return at sunset, I want this house clean and my dinner cooked. And I want you to take a quarter of a measure of wheat from my storehouse and pick out the black grains and the wild peas."  
  
"And if I do not?"  
  
"Then your skull will be atop the twelfth, empty poll on my porch. Understand?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Aku spent the better part of the day doing the most difficult task she have given him, muttering to himself the whole time things like, "Who does she think I am, a sifter?" His back and fingers hurt, but he did manage to finish. There was little time to do his other tasks. He very hastily cleaned the house and the yard. In the yard he saw the white horseman ride through the field, and twilight fell.  
  
"I still have not cooked her dinner!" He hurried into the forest and by luck found a fawn. Without mercy, he drew the sword and slew the poor thing. He smiled in spite of himself. "It is good to be a samurai. It is better to be Aku, but being a samurai does have its advantages indeed."  
  
He put the poor deer upon the fire and began cooking. Only minutes later, Baba Yaga was back. "Slave! Bring me dinner!"  
  
"It is not marinated yet."  
  
"I do not care. Bring it to me!"  
  
So Aku quickly set before her the fawn and poured her a beverage. She greedily ate the food, bones in all. Aku stood aghast.  
  
"Why do you stand there dumb as a poll?" Baba Yaga yelled at him.  
  
"That deer could feed three strong men, and you eat the whole thing without leaving a morsel for your servant?"  
  
"Oh, is that all?" Baba Yaga went to the pantry and got him a small, cold, watery bowl of cabbage soup.  
  
"I worked all day, and this is what I get in return?"  
  
"Welcome to your world."  
  
"Oh. Touché."  
  
"So, slave, have you performed all your tasks perfectly?"  
  
"See for yourself." Aku sneered.  
  
Baba Yaga rose and inspected everything around the hut poking all the things in her path with her snake cane. The house and yard were clean enough to her satisfaction, and not one wild pea or black grain could be found in the wheat. Inwardly, the witch was furious, but she made no indication to Aku. "You have done well," she said indifferently. Then she clapped her hands and called to the air, "Faithful servants! Friends of my heart! Haste and grind my wheat!"  
  
Immediately, several pairs of hands appeared out of nowhere. They seized the bundle of wheat and carried it away.  
  
"Those are your faithful servants?" Aku retorted. "What have they that I do not?"  
  
"You shall see in good time," the old witch answered ominously. Aku did not like her tone, but he wondered what they could be. "Now tomorrow, I want you to do the same, only this time I want you to get a half-measure of peppercorn and clean every kernel. They have become mixed with earth somehow, and I must have them cleaned. Do this, or you shall be my supper."  
  
"Very well." This task sounded much more difficult than last time, but she didn't say he must start tomorrow. So Aku started cleaning the peppercorn than night, grumbling all the while. He got dirt under all his fingernails, and he fell asleep in the peppercorn around midnight. It created a big mess, which he discovered the following morning. But he did manage to finish. There was little time to do his other tasks. So he hastily cleaned the house and the yard. In the yard, he saw the black horseman ride pass, and the forest began to darken.  
  
"I still have not cooked her dinner!" Aku quickly ran to the forest and by luck found a mother bear. Without mercy, he drew his sword and slew the poor thing. He smiled in spite of himself. "Surely she will not finish this."  
  
He managed to drag the bear to the hut and put her on the fire. Only minutes later, Baba Yaga returned. "Slave! Bring me dinner!"  
  
"It is not completely cooked yet."  
  
"I do not care! Bring it to me!"  
  
So Aku slammed the bear onto the table. It nearly collapsed under the weight. He poured the witch a beverage and waited. She ate the entire bears, bones and all. Aku stood aghast.  
  
"Why do you stand there dumb as a poll?" Baba Yaga yelled at him.  
  
"That bear could feed five strong men at least! How could it be that you ate it all?"  
  
"Oh, do you want something for yourself?" Baba Yaga went to the pantry and got him a crust of bread. "So, slave, have you performed all your tasks perfectly?"  
  
"See for yourself."  
  
Baba Yaga could not complain. None of the peppercorn kernels had a speck of dirt, and the house was clean enough. "You have done well." She clapped her hands and cried to the air, "Loyal servants! Friends of my soul! Haste and grind my peppercorn!"  
  
The several pairs of hands appeared out of nowhere, seized the bundle and carried it away. "Tomorrow, slave, I want you to do the same, except this time I want you to gather a full measure of green beans and snap them all. Do this, or your fate shall be worse than the green beans."  
  
"Now we are talking," Aku said softly to himself. He cleaned the house before going to bed and gathered the green beans the next morning. A full measure was a lot, but the sword could cut several at a time. About halfway through his task, a shadow fell over him from the window, and a chill ran down his back. Aku got an old oil lamp to help him see, but when he got back to his task the sword was gone. Then Aku understood. He looked out the window defiantly. He knew what he had to do.  
  
Jack found a place in the forest that was the closest he could get to a clearing. He could see the sun peeking through the top of the trees. He held his father's sword up to his face and for the first time in three days saw his own face. The magic in the blade knew the truth. Surely his ancestors knew it too.  
  
He plunged the blade into the earth and knelt. "Great ancestors, hear my cry," he said solemnly. "Forgive me. I have acted senselessly, and I am plagued with the results of my rashness. Do not dishonor me. Instead, I ask you to let me use this opportunity. Disarm the charms of this blade. Destroy this body, and receive me! Number me among you! In this, may my death end the evil reign of Aku forever!" So saying, he stood and pointed the blade to himself. He hesitated, stared the blade down and breathed. He was not afraid, but he was not sure if he wanted things to end so soon. Then he remembered the agony of the last few days, how he had tried everything under the sun to break the spell, to end its evil. He remembered that if there was no other option in his quest, this must be the path to take. So he quickly brought the blade down.  
  
"I would not do that if I were you," a quiet voice observed.  
  
Jack stopped just in time. "Who is there?"  
  
"Oh wait," the voice said. The speaker came from behind a tree. Jack was astonished to look at his own self. "I am you."  
  
Something about the look in the speaker's eyes and the smirk on his face confirmed Jack's greatest fear and filled him with anger. "Aku!"  
  
The demon, from the samurai's flesh, laughed at the sound of himself saying his name so briskly. "Ha, ha, ha! It is you samurai!"  
  
It would be hard to strike at himself, but Jack then realized that it would be more important to strike Aku's soul than his body. So with a loud battle cry he thrust the sword toward the demon's heart. Aku jumped out of the way just in time. Jack continued to strike, but Aku continually flipped, jumped, and overall evaded the shots.  
  
"Face it. I have your skill, and you have mine. What an intriguing concept, 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair.'"  
  
"Why have you done this?"  
  
"I? I? You are the one who consulted with that hag! The guilt is on your own head . . . I mean soul. So, why have 'you' done this? You are surely more of a fool than I thought."  
  
"The enemy of my enemy is--"  
  
"Oh, come on! Do not tell me you fell for that!"  
  
"Why? You use it all the time, whenever you send bounty hunters or any of your servants after me."  
  
"Yes, but it does not always work. I learned that from her as well. All of this part of the world fears this powerful woman. I came to her seeking an alliance, planning to throw her aside once I got what I wanted. I learned very quickly that this woman has neither allies nor enemies. All she has is an insatiable desire for power. That is why I believe she is a cannibal. The more she devours, the stronger her power becomes."  
  
"Then why has she not devoured you?"  
  
"Believe me, it is luck that she has not. However, I know she wants us both dead."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"She always told me that she would one day enslave me. She could. She has control over my power. But I know what she really wants. She wants my power. I can do things she can not, and the only way she can get it is to devour me, body and essence both. She has tried for centuries, but she can not destroy me. But now that you have come along with a sword that could at least incapacitate me, she has her solution. All she needs is for you to crack and try to destroy us both, as you almost did a moment ago."  
  
"So, we shall die. Your reign of terror will forever come to an end."  
  
"Well yes, but her reign shall be ten times more terrible than mine for sure. Think about it for once samurai! I am the Master of Masters, the Deliverer of Darkness, the Shogun of Sorrow, but I am not a cannibal!"  
  
Jack had to admit, Aku spoke the truth.  
  
"There is only we can do. We have to work together to find someway to destroy Baba Yaga."  
  
"Never!"  
  
"Samurai, I do not like it anymore than you do, but I like being in your skin even less. It is the greatest of insults! A greater punishment there can never be!" Then he smiled slyly and looked into his own eyes. "But I bet you love it. Tell the truth. All the power there at your fingertips. You're every wish and need instantly met. You want to go home? Snap your fingers. You'll be there in an instant. Do it, samurai."  
  
"No! It is an evil power! I will not use it!"  
  
"You see? Things must be the way they were. Destroy the witch, and we'll destroy the charm. It will not be easy. I once sent Demongo to steal her essence, and he said she did not have one, nor does she have a heart to hold a soul. But it must be here, or she could not live. She has it hidden somewhere in this forest. Tonight, I will stall her. You search for it. You can see things that eyes of flesh cannot. You find it, bring it to me under darkness, and we will crush it."  
  
Jack took a moment of silence to consider everything and finally answered, "Very well."  
  
"Excellent. Now, let us shake on it." Aku held out a hand.  
  
"Shake?"  
  
"Of course, shake hands. Are you not familiar with this custom? It is a way to form a compact, to seal a deal."  
  
"I know the custom."  
  
"Then let us do it. I do not usually shake on an agreement, but I am dead serious about this, samurai. We will not, we can not, rest until Baba Yaga is no more."  
  
Jack was still very uncertain. He knew if he shook that there was no way he could go back, and he had reservations of entering such a compact with his enemy. He was sure Aku had a hidden agenda somewhere.  
  
"I can wait all day, samurai."  
  
Jack took a deep breath and extended his hand. He could not look down as Aku grasped his finger and gently moved it up and down. "There. That was not so hard. Now, give me back your sword."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Good night, I have chores! If I do not get them done by sunset, she will make an end of me. You do not want that."  
  
"You can work honestly for once."  
  
"Oh, you do not know what I have been up to. Fine, keep your sword. But you are going to have to kill her dinner. I suggest you get an elephant. No way she could finish that."  
  
Jack did not bring an elephant but a very large bird. Aku figured it would do. "Now, search. Be wary of the horsemen, and avoid her presence above all else." At that they heard some kind of whooshing sound and a loud cackle. "She's coming! Go!"  
  
Jack went, and Aku quickly put the bird on the fire. In his haste, he forgot to pluck off the feathers. And then he forgot that fires are hot. "OW! OH! AGH!"  
  
"Slave! Bring me dinner!" Baba Yaga's harsh greeting came.  
  
"It's not--OW--completely plucked yet."  
  
"Well then pluck it!"  
  
Aku turned in wonder. "Do you not want it now?"  
  
"I can't eat feathers. Besides, your screams are music to my ears."  
  
"Very well." He figured it was probably because she liked the smell of his hands in the fire also, but he did not say anything. So he continued to scream as he picked out as much feathers as he could. Then he put the dinner before her and looked for a lotion to sooth his burnt hands. As Baba Yaga finished her meal, Aku stood before her smiling.  
  
"Why do you stand there as dumb as a poll? And what are you smiling at?"  
  
"I was just thinking about our run-ins together. You are a very clever witch. You foiled the great Aku more than once. I would like to know how you did it. May I ask you some questions?"  
  
Baba Yaga looked flattered, but she looked him dead in the eye. "Well, only remember that every question does not lead to good. If you know too much, you will grow old too soon." She chuckled to herself. Aku was tempted to remind her that he was over three thousand years old, but then he decided this was not the time. "What do you wish to know?"  
  
"When I first found myself here a few days ago, I saw a rider dressed all in red and riding a blood-red horse. Who was that?"  
  
"That is my servant, the round, red sun."  
  
"How can that be? I have never seen that man before, but I have seen the sun millions of times."  
  
"He is my servant!" Baba Yaga repeated angrily. "He lives in the forest, and he cannot harm you. Ask me more."  
  
"And that evening, I saw a similar horseman dressed all in white and riding a milk-white horse. Who was this?"  
  
"That was my servant, the white, bright day."  
  
"But if you already had the sun, why would you need the day?"  
  
"He too cannot hurt you. Ask me more!"  
  
"And yesterday I saw a rider dressed in black and riding a coal-black horse. Who was he?"  
  
"That was my servant, the black, dark night. He also cannot hurt you. Ask me more!"  
  
And Aku would have asked more, but then he spied Jack out the window. "No. That is all I needed to know."  
  
"Ask me more!" the witch demanded. "Why do you not ask me more?"  
  
"I have other obligations to fulfill." Secretly he was trying to hand signal to Jack.  
  
"Baba Yaga has heard THAT excuse from your lips before! Do you not want to know of my other servants and why they are better than you?"  
  
"Another time." Jack looked as though he had no idea what Aku was doing, so Aku was trying to get to the window that he could speak with Jack.  
  
"Then let me ask you a question. How is it you are able to finish every task I set before you?"  
  
"Luck," Aku muttered.  
  
"What? Tell the truth, did you cheat?"  
  
"Maybe a little. You house is already clean enough. Look, you have not called your servants to clean the green beans. Would you like me to prepare them?"  
  
"You may, but let me ask you another question--why do you keep looking out the window?"  
  
"Uh . . . no reason."  
  
Baba Yaga stood and pointed to the window. "Ye, my solid pane, unlock! Thou, my stout window, open!" The window opened on its own accord. The witch used more magic to draw Jack in. "Tzarevich of the East! What, have you not gone home yet?"  
  
"Why have you done this?" Jack angrily demanded.  
  
"I have given you what you want. You wanted the secrets of time? No one knows time better than the Katschey. You wanted to return to your tzardom? I took you to the source."  
  
"But I can not go home as Aku!"  
  
"That is your problem, not mine. But since you have returned here, I will reveal to you both the nature of my servants."  
  
"Where is it?" Aku whispered.  
  
"I was looking for it. Something tells me that it's around this house."  
  
"That's impossible!"  
  
"Faithful students! Friends of my heart! Come here!" Baba Yaga cried. The several pairs of hands came forward. Then with a click of her heels and a snap of her fingers, the witch turned her servants into people. They were all significantly young with dirty and torn clothes, and they looked ferocious.  
  
"Children? Those are your servants?" Aku sneered.  
  
"Those are not children," Jack said uncertainly.  
  
"The Tzarevich speaks true," Baba Yaga answered. "They once were children, but now they are wolves. In their servant form their minds belong to me, but in their true form they have been trained for one thing--to rip the Katschey to shreds!"  
  
"Oh no, he'll destroy them first!" Aku said, but Jack was setting down his sword. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I cannot strike against a child. Besides, Baba Yaga has magic to protect her."  
  
"That's right," Baba Yaga answered. And at her Russian command, the wolf children jumped on them.  
  
"If you won't do it, I will." Aku picked up the sword and fiercely attacked. Jack did his best to stop Aku. He inadvertently transformed a few times. It was a strange feeling. Jack always assumed it felt like an oozing feeling, but it just felt like a constant shifting, as though he was a shadow. Ever so often, the wolf children bit into him. It was intensely painful. It must be what it feels like whenever he hits Aku with the sword.  
  
Finally Jack decided the best way to stop the children was to obstruct him someway. "Get the door," something whispered to him. He pulled the gate off its hinges and hurled it toward the children. They were trapped under a pile of bones. A few pieces off the hinges broke into Jack's hand.  
  
Baba Yaga was furious. "You have made a mistake, Tzarevich! Now you will see why the Katschey fears me!" The witch snapped her fingers and clicked her heels, but nothing happened to Jack. Instead, Baba Yaga's bony knees gave way and she clutched her chest. "What is happening?" she gasped. "What do you have in your hand?"  
  
"Some toe bones," Jack answered, but he opened his hand to look. To his surprise, one bone gave off a dim, pulsing glow.  
  
Aku was getting the picture. He took the blade and held it up to Baba Yaga's neck. "What is the matter? Tell us."  
  
"Why are you so cruel?" the witch gasped.  
  
"Every question does not lead to good. If you know too much, you'll grow old too soon!" Aku replied with a cold laugh.  
  
"It's my life! Give it back to me!"  
  
"Your life?"  
  
"Yes. Three times nine centuries ago, before the Katschey arose, I accidentally cut off my big toe. I was beginning magic arts at this time, and I knew that with such an opportunity I could make myself unstoppable. So I shrunk my heart down to smaller than a grain of sand and put it within the bone. I made my soul its new marrow. Then I hid it in a place where no one could find it--in my own door."  
  
"So that is why," Jack whispered.  
  
"Twenty-seven centuries? Thought it was longer than that," Aku mused. "Oh well, at least you'll die first!" He tried to stab Baba Yaga, but he could not create a wound.  
  
"I may be weak and powerless, but I am still immortal," the witch smiled.  
  
"Break the bone!" Aku yelled.  
  
"Do you think I am not trying?" Jack answered. "There are too many charms around it!"  
  
"I know what can break it. Give it to me."  
  
"No!" Baba Yaga cried. "Please, Tzarevich, spare my life! I'll do anything! Do you wish to go home? I will send you home before you can blink! And I'll set the spell right. I can even make it so that Aku never existed. I promise I will! Baba Yaga never goes back on her promises!"  
  
Jack hesitated. It was not just because of the promises the witch was making but the expressions of fear and pain on her face. She did not look terrifying anymore. Jack almost pitied her. But he made an agreement with Aku, and he can not go back.  
  
Then, a tiny voice, like's a child's voice just above a whisper, spoke to him. "Do not be anxious, little samurai. Grief is worst at night."  
  
"Who speaks?" Jack whispered.  
  
"It is I, Baba Yaga's heart." Jack looked at the bone and saw the tiny light pulse with the words. He glanced down to see if the witch was playing a trick on him. It didn't appear so. "She means well."  
  
"What can I do?"  
  
"Hold me tightly in your fist. You will know."  
  
So Jack did so, and the plan came to him. He had an offer prepared that would satisfy the agreement. But he felt he had to be sincere. He had to be himself.  
  
It wasn't as difficult to transform into the same being he saw in his dream as he thought it would be. He looked exactly like himself, except he was black as night, his face was green, and he had flaming eyebrows. But at least it got the point across. When he spoke, it was his voice he heard.  
  
"I will give the bone back to you."  
  
"What?" Aku cried in anger.  
  
Jack motioned to silence him. "But if you truly keep your word, you will make another promise. You must promise to leave the ways of witchcraft and cannibalism behind forever."  
  
"And why should I do that?" Baba Yaga asked.  
  
"Because if you do not, you will be next after Aku. That is my promise, and a samurai does not go back on his word."  
  
"Then what about your word to me?" Aku yelled.  
  
"When you take this bone, you will swallow it whole. You will have enough power to undo the spell on the children and us. By then, your heart will return to where it belongs, and there will be no room left for black magic in your soul. Your three servants will take you out of the forest into the wide, white world, and you will live the rest of your days in peace."  
  
"This is not what we agreed!"  
  
Jack turned to Aku. "I am doing what we agreed. You said we would not rest until Baba Yaga is no more. When I give this back to her, she will no longer be the Grandmother Witch, Baba Yaga. She shall be simply Baba, Grandmother."  
  
"Yes, very cunning," the witch answered. "I am loath to lose my life, but I do not think I could do this."  
  
"Choose now. Which will you lose: your life or your way of life?"  
  
After a long time, the witch spoke. "Way. I will take the bone."  
  
"Give me your word!"  
  
"Yes! I'll never be a witch again!"  
  
"And?"  
  
"I will never bother anyone for the rest of my days. I will peacefully wait for death."  
  
"Very well."  
  
Jack handed her the bone, and she reached for it, but as in slow motion, Aku screamed a war cry as he charged with the sword drawn. Just before Baba Yaga could touch the bone, he leapt above and yelled at the top of his lungs, "DOSVIDANYA, YOU HAG!" Jack tried to draw the bone back, but he wasn't quick enough. The bone sliced in half. Jack heard the screams of the little heart, as the fragments of the bone flashed like lightning. Baba Yaga cried in pain and was blown away like dust in the wind. The same wind caused the hen's legs to give way. The hut of bones collapsed.  
  
Jack was able to escape. He heard faint movement from one end of the pile. He dug through the pile of bones to discover the wolf children, but now they were really children. They cried in wonder once they realized they were no longer wolves. One young man who was evidently a Tzarevich, bowed before him, and as he spoke Jack recognized him as the leader of the pack of wolves. "Thank you, comrade. May fortune continue to smile on you." Jack merely bowed back and saw the children on.  
  
Then he saw another hand raise out of the pile of bones. Jack took his hand and began to pull him out, when he realized he was rescuing himself. He looked at his hands. Still coal black. The spell against Jack and Aku was not broken  
  
The more Aku looked at him, the more he filled with anger. He flung his head back and screamed in fury. He pulled his wrist away from Jack's hand. He tore off the itchy serf uniform and the top of Jack's gi. He tore out his hair. He kicked bones and constantly screamed.  
  
"You witch!" he cried. "I hate you! I spit on your grave! I stamp on you! You put on me this worthless frame. What, will I take this till I die?" Then he turned to Jack. "And you! You dared to give her a second chance! Did you not understand? I wanted her dead! Dead, dead, dead! Now look what you have done! I've had enough of you."  
  
About this time, Jack saw his sword out in the open. "I also had enough. This ends now." He picked up the sword. Without realizing it, he was transforming back to the original state. "Great ancestors, hear my cry."  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Disarm the charm on this blade. Destroy us! Receive my soul! Number me among you!"  
  
"Us?"  
  
Jack held Aku in his body down and raised the sword. "In this, may my death end the reign of Aku forever!"  
  
Jack brought the blade down swiftly to Aku, but Aku raised a hand to stop the sword from striking. The second he touched it, lightning surrounded the blade. Jack felt a shift in position, a disorientation. Then he felt weak, tired, hungry, and his hands hurt. The blade fell to the ground with a clatter. Aku raised his hand to his eyebrows and smiled as he felt the flames.  
  
"Aha! Yes! I knew it! I tricked you, fool! I knew all along that the spell was in your sword and all we needed was to touch it, just as in the dream. I knew that you would do this. That is why I made the sword so obvious! Ha! I never felt better to be alive! I am AKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"  
  
Jack slowly began to stand. "Are you so sure that it was I who was deceived?"  
  
"Huh?" Aku looked down at his foe who had his sword ready in hand. He realized what Jack was going to do.  
  
Jack charged towards the demon. "Dosvidanya, Kastchey!" 


End file.
